


Waiting for the Miracle

by felicia_angel



Series: The Stories of Isaac [1]
Category: Cowboy Bebop, Supernatural
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-17
Updated: 2012-02-17
Packaged: 2017-10-31 08:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felicia_angel/pseuds/felicia_angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jimmy Novak's transition to the Angel called Castiel, and his one waking moment in all of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting for the Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers/AU for 4.20 - The Rapture, and spoilers for the whole series of Cowboy Bebop.  
> Also not all the characters are the same, because...well, it's the future. And I can.

Jimmy wakes hurting, with little recollection of where he was or why he was asleep, and blinks when he sees the somewhat familiar face of a man. He knows the man’s name is Dean…it starts with a ‘W’, and he has a brother. He sees the brother, looking worried, and Dean obviously relaxes a bit when he wakes but not enough to really show that he’s comfortable.

“Cas?” he askes, and Jimmy vaguely recalls the symbol, and a name.

“No,” he manages, “no, it’s me.”

“Who’s ‘me’?” the younger brother asks.

“Jimmy. Jimmy Novak.”

 

_Jimmy Novak was born on Earth, and does not make enough money to escape it, so he stays on Earth, with his wife Amelia and daughter Claire, and prays every day that he won’t come home to find it destroyed by a falling meteor, that they’ll be safe, and that the money he’s saving will be enough to get them to Mars or somewhere nice, where they can have a wonderful life._

_He is part of the vast army of people who fix the transmitters that connect Earth to the rest of the System, and has the side-job of selling space for some of the websites. He’s faced off against hackers a few times, but generally doesn’t see anything wrong with them – it’s a part of the process, really, and nothing to be that surprised over. He’d even befriended one, who owed him a favor after he’d not turned the poor kid into the police._

_His life was fine, though. Amelia was loving and kind, even if she didn’t quite believe as Jimmy did. Claire always ran up behind him when he came home and hugged him, usually earning tickles or hugs back. The money he was saving would, at least, get them to Mars and a better life, away from meteor storms and an ever-changing landscape. He only need a few more years, and then they would leave this place. He prays every day for that, as does Amelia, and Claire joins them sometimes, praying for a new life, and for her friends._

_Then, at work, he hears something, something that makes his mind reel and his body jerk, and when he wakes, there’s a horrible sort of knowledge in his head. His arm was in water, still boiling from the nearby meteor impact, but he felt no pain from it._

_He’s been tested, and now proves he can hear the voices, understand, and not be hurt. What’s inside of him was tested and shown to be perfect._

 

“You’re shitting me,” Jimmy says, earning a look from Dean. It’s obvious he’s more used to the other persona, the one that’s not in Jimmy’s body at the moment ( _Thank God for small favors_ ), while the older man known as Bobby lets out a sigh.

“Look, I’m sorry.” He considers a moment, “We’re heading towards Earth anyway. I hear sometimes, seeing something like that is good for the soul. Granted, sometimes it ain’t.”

“No,” Jimmy mutters, “no, that’s fine. I’d like to go.” He manages a laugh, despite everything, “What’s going to be left after twenty years anyway?”

Twenty, yet he’s not aged at all. His daughter’s life, his wife’s…everything.

Dean stays near him, and something tells Jimmy that, despite the fact that he’s looking like he wouldn’t talk about his feelings even under extreme stress or torture, he obviously wants to help Jimmy out with this. Sam is on a computer, searching with goggles connected to the screen and a great deal of typing going on, obviously lost in the world of the ‘net. Jimmy isn’t sure, but he guesses Sam is from Earth, which means he probably still has some friends there.

“Hey,” the gruff voice of Dean stops him short and he’s motioned to sit, Jimmy doing so because he doesn’t see any reason for him not to. On top of that, he’s tired. He doesn’t know how long he’s been without sleep or food, and honestly he doesn’t care. All he wants is to never think about this again, to not think about Castiel or what happened to him. Learning the… _thing_ inside of you disappeared suddenly and left you little in the way of memories, save a vague feeling of who to trust or that you somewhat trusted one person or another, was a bit annoying.

“Yeah?”

Dean sighed, rubbing a hand through his short hair before he says simply, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Are you more worried about Castiel appearing or something else?” Jimmy asks, annoyed.

“No. I’m more worried about your mental state.” That gets Jimmy to blink in surprise, Dean softening a bit before saying, “Cas helped me out. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re a guy who needs my helps, so…” he shrugged, “I want to help.”

Jimmy sighs, putting his head in his hands. “Just…I’m trying to get my head around it. Why let me out? Why leave?”

Dean didn’t say anything, though it was obvious he wanted to. Some part of Jimmy knew he wanted to ask what Castiel had last said, if he’d left anything behind, and Jimmy was actually quite grateful that he didn’t. That he’d only said Jimmy was a guy who needed help.

“Wish I knew,” Dean told him, “but ‘mysterious ways’ and all that bullshit.” He shifted and finally sat down near him, still looking uncomfortable. “I don’t know what’s going on, only that the Angels are planning something, the Demons seem to think that Sam’s important, and Cas thought he had something. I’m supposed to be important too, apparently. So I kinda understand some of it…not the whole lost time thing, but some of it.”

Jimmy chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head. “I don’t think there’s anyone who can really relate to that.” He managed to look up and smile a bit at Dean. “Thank you, though.”

Dean smiled back, shrugging. “Anytime.”

 

_Jimmy walks home in a daze, and when Amelia asks what’s wrong, her tone scared, and Claire holds onto him tight, he makes up his mind._

_Jimmy calls in his favor, and despite his wife’s crying, despite Claire’s attempt to hold onto him, they’re packed and gone by the time he calls the Angels. The files are corrupted so they can’t be identified. The only way now is by testing blood, by having Claire do what he does, and she doesn’t want that._

_Jimmy complies when they come for him, and leaves, and agrees, so long as they leave his family alone. They put him in a white cell, labeled by an odd symbol, and he sits and prays._

_After every procedure, every test, every bit of himself that’s lost, he prays. Until there’s nothing for him to recall why or who he’s praying for._

 

Earth is much as Jimmy remembers it, broken and full of craters. By some miracle, the house is still standing, and has few places have been hit just outside of it. He’s grateful, seeing it like that, and also happy that Sam and Dean had headed off to chase after some bounty so they could supplement their income. Being a Cowboy and being a Hunter were two very different things, and only one actually paid. Granted, if someone was a Hunter, that meant they killed their prey, but that also meant they were up against things that were either failed experiments or Demons…sometimes Angels too, but either way, it usually meant they killed the bounty, and that didn’t always give you money for bodies that disappeared or were dead.

Jimmy walked up the way, smiling a bit as he did, remembering that he always came up at this time of day, that he always was quiet, smiling a bit, and he slowly put his hand to the door, opening the screen inward and letting out a sigh. “I’m home,” he said to the quiet house.

Something broke and he turned, surprised and blinking at the woman behind him, shaking and holding a hand up to her mouth. A bag of groceries were at her feet, a glass bottle smashed up, as next to her, a woman with short hair and a yellow outfit which barely covered most of her skin. She looked at him with a bit of a surprise, glancing back and forth between the two.

It had been twenty years, but his little girl still looked like a female version of him, with lighter hair, and the same huge blue eyes.

He stared, shaking. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to be here.

“Daddy,” Claire said finally, quiet and shaking.

 

Faye Valentine has lost 80 years due to an accident. She was adjusting well to learning all of her family had died and she was alone, but had come to stay with Claire because Claire offered a place to stay for orphans and those who needed a break. They’d been lucky in that spot, an area where little to no meteor showers hit.

Dean and Sam had gotten back and been a bit surprised to find the person they normally knew as Castiel in conversation with a young woman, sitting over a cup of coffee and Jimmy looking like there was something wrong.

Sam had smiled at Faye as Dean wandered over to sit down, Claire offering up some food and coffee (which Dean quickly agreed to with a smile that caused Jimmy to glare at him).

“What?” Dean whispered, confused.

“That’s my daughter you’re leering at.”

Dean blinked, his face obviously hurt and confused, before he started to chuckle, then laugh.

“It’s not funny.”

Dean shook his head, snorting a bit with barely-controlled laughter. “No, but it is to me. I’m sorry, man, I really am.”

Jimmy tried to hold his glare, but something made him stop, instead laughing along with Dean, the tension from whatever had come up slowly melting.

Claire went out and Dean slowly stopped laughing, wiping his eyes before finally asking, “What happened?”

Jimmy looked down at the cooling coffee. “My wife died, two years ago on Mars. It was around Halloween.”

Dean looked down, reaching out to touch his hand. He knew about the incident – there had been a terrorist attack before a supposed biological warfare attack on Mars. While most of it had been covered up, not enough had, and most of the Cowboys or Hunters knew that there was something, mostly tied to the Titan War.

“The railway incident,” Dean said, knowing he guessed correctly.

“Yeah,” Jimmy said, letting out a sigh, “Claire moved back only a few years ago. She couldn’t take living there, didn’t want to live anywhere else, so she came back home.”

Dean let out a sigh, knowing what Jimmy was thinking. “You think they’ll find her.”

“The Angels might think Castiel is defective, that’s why he’s…not here. It’s about genetics, and she’s…” he shook his head, shivering a bit at the thought. “You have to make sure that doesn’t happen, Dean. I don’t care what happens to me, don’t let them get my daughter.”

Dean was silent, looking at his own coffee, before nodding. “I won’t. You have my word on that.”

 

_His name is Castiel. He is part of an Angel Garrison that consists of a woman named Anfial and two men, Balthazar and Uriel. They all work together and fight together, facing off against demonic beings and attacks. Anfial is saddened and wishes to travel the world, but also loves Humanity for all it’s good and ill. Uriel doesn’t like emotions, or Anfial, or anything in particular, and Castiel is constantly reminding him that they were created to protect things, as they are ordered._

_But they are also ordered to watch torture. They are ordered to let dangerous people out and continue on dark paths. Balthazar, during a fight with Angels who disbelieve as God and the other Angels do, dies. There are rumors that he, like Archangel Gabriel and others, is Fallen, but Castiel dislikes gossip among Angels. Uriel is horrible about it and quick to lay blame and other points. Anfial is introverted and doesn’t stand up for anything, and one day disappears, possibly Falls, and Castiel is left alone to be in charge of Uriel. Castiel is...indifferent to the other Angels, and only follows orders because he must, and because he’s told and knows it’s the Will of God._

_Then he goes into Perdition and saves a man named Dean Winchester. Then he wakes in water and saves Dean Winchester again, and Dean Winchester is…is…_

_There are too many words for what Dean Winchester is. Castiel believes in Dean, and can see why he was ordered to pull him out of Hell and becoming a Demon. Uriel is indifferent and hateful to Dean, and Castiel doesn’t like it._

_Castiel is suddenly beginning to doubt. Castiel trusts Dean more then he trusts the others…more then he trust the word of God._

_Then he learns something, and it’s horrifying and makes him feel something that he can’t identify, and tries to speak to Dean._

_The Angels take him, and he falls into darkness….._

Claire is open about their life after he sent them to Mars. Despite all that he’d heard, it wasn’t the perfect place. Amelia is able to get a job and keep them living well, but Claire is unhappy and doesn’t keep to prayers like her mother had. What was the point, anyway? She learned from a tenant, something her mother had to deal with and one of the reasons Claire starts the house in the first place, about Hunters, and Angels, and Devils.

It’s no surprise, at least to Jimmy, that Claire guessed correctly on which one of those took her father from her. It’s a bit of a surprise, though, how much she hates them, and how close to becoming a Hunter she got.

But there was always a small point in her head, as she learned more about Angels and Demons and the failed messes they left behind, that kept her from it. The mad and dangerous Pierrot also kept her from Hunting – Jimmy doesn’t know the full story behind him, only that he was an attempt, one of the first, to create something like the Angels and Demons, and that he failed.

Faye speaks more about Pierrot when she hears the name, telling them that someone she once knew, a man with two eyes that were different colors (“He said one saw only the past, that because of that he was always seeing the world in a sort of fractured light…he told me that, then walked off to get himself killed because the woman he loved had died in his arms”) had faced off against Pierrot, nearly dying once and coming very close the second time at a theme park.

“That was the second time that man nearly died,” Faye muttered, looking out towards the now-larger lake that a crater had formed years ago, that had been there when Jimmy lived here and been saving and praying for a miracle, “I wonder at times, what would’ve happened if we’d all opened up a bit more. Jet and he had some strange code, I guess, and Jet always complained we were like stray cats or something, and only returned to his ship because there was food.” She laughed a little at that. “Truthfully, he probably was better without us, but now…” Faye sighed, looking to Claire. “I think I’m going to leave soon. I don’t think staying here is healthy for anyone. Memories and the real world always come up, just like that man’s eyes…it’s too distorted, seeing the past and present.”

Jimmy agreed quietly, looking out. He could name most of those transmitters. He possibly knew a few people still working them. Claire had kept the house exactly like it’d been when he was her father, and not someone who had lost twenty years and now didn’t know what they’d done to his own body. Reflexes that probably should’ve been natural weren’t anymore, as if when Castiel disappeared from his head, he took with him everything else as well.

Claire was silent for a moment before asking, “Are you leaving with Dean and Sam?”

Jimmy looked down at the ground, thinking. What use did the Hunters have with a defective Angel? What was the point of someone who couldn’t even fight, who’s job had been to work on twenty-year-old equipment, and who couldn’t use a gun or protect anyone?

“I don’t know,” he finally answered.

“Then will you stay?”

He had nothing, really. He had a daughter who was a stranger, a wife who had died of a disease, and a whole lot of useless skills.

“I don’t know.”

He could feel Claire watching him, worried. He heard more than felt Dean coming up and waiting, just inside the screen door, as if understanding that interrupting the conversation was both not good, but also that Jimmy wanted someone to give him the answers he no longer had.

“What will you do, Daddy?” Claire finally asked, the whole crux of the problem. Jimmy looked up at the landscape, seeing a meteor storm in the distance, streaks of light that were sometimes beautiful as well as dangerous, and he answered as he only could.

“I don’t know. I wish to God I did.”

 

_Dean Winchester made a deal, that sold his body to Hell’s Agents, so they would give him the nanomachines to take out Sam’s ‘disease’. For a year, they Hunted together, and Sam attempted to break the deal. By the time he found the man he was looking for, a man who was forever disappearing and had a name similar to those that wrote, long ago, about Angels and Demons, Heaven and Hell, his brother was gone._

_Sam raged, and used every computer trick he’d learned, picked up, or created himself to destroy parts of Hell’s areas. For three months, he waged a war, and with him was Earth and all its Hackers, a group of Anonymous and Infamous prodigies who’s purpose was to connect and get away from the existence that Earth had given them. One got into the bowels of Hell, straight to the Cage, and played a game of Chess with Lucifer and won, taunting him all the way back while upsetting every computer throughout the Rings and even into Purgatory with a series of childish smiles and cartoons._

_“Chessmaster Hex is the only one that can beat me!” the hacker taunted, as an ancient and grand AI threatened them when they got too close, and another thing, dangerous and growling, mauled the Hell Hounds they sent._

_Then suddenly, while Hunting, Sam caught news of something, and went to Mars, where he found his brother, alive and uncertain of what happened, still hurt a bit from Hell’s attentions, and they followed a cargo until it and Dean fell into the channels in the area._

_When he came up, Dean was being held by a man with dark hair, serious and almost inhuman eyes, and markers naming him Castiel. He was an Angel, there to help them fight Demons._

_Sam didn’t like him. Granted, Castiel called him a “boy with demon blood”, and that was never the way to start a good relationship. Dean was wary but also cared for the Angel a bit more. Sam didn’t tell him about what the ‘net and others knew, the truth about Angels and Demons, about Heaven, Hell, and the agents within, or about what his “demonic blood” could do, especially after he’d visited Moroccan Street again._

_Instead, he helped, and accepted that they had an Angel on their side, at least. Even if he wasn’t really on their side, and even if Sam sometimes wishes for syndicate help instead._

Faye left, and despite the possibility that there were other jobs that needed seeing to, both Hunting and Bounty work, Dean stayed as well in the house. Sam, after some talk online and generally ignoring everyone, went off somewhere and only called to say he was fine and to not bother him. Jimmy had smiled a little at that, as it only really confirmed how long Sam had been on Earth and that he’d lived on the surface – most orphans or those living on the surface never stayed somewhere too long, and if they did, it was only because there was something interesting. Dean had laughed at the explanation before launching into a story, mostly directed to Claire, about how he’d found Sam and gotten him into the Hunting business. Jimmy listened as well, helping however he could. He was trying to feel useful, but that didn’t always stick. He was hoping for…well, anything. A sign that Castiel wouldn’t return, or that he’d been fully released and wasn’t going to be picked again, _something_ to keep him from feeling like he was just in limbo.

Claire went to set the table in the dining room as Dean stayed to help Jimmy, the other man glancing at him with a frown. “Why are you still here? Why not…”

“What, leave?” Dean sighed, helping to get the food into dishes. “Look…I know you’re not Cas, but I told you before. You’re a guy who needs help, and who had some powerful AI or something in your head. You lost twenty years of your life and probably have no clue what to do.”

“You just feel that, since I had him in me, you should help.”

Dean sent him a small glare. “No. I think you’re someone who got screwed over. I know what that’s like. So I want to help, like it or not. I know you’re not Cas…you don’t act, walk, talk, or even have the same…I dunno, aura or whatever…that he does. Did. Whatever. At the same time…”he shrugged, looking over at the dining room and finally running a hand through his hair. “I want to have a family feeling, just this once. And I can’t promise that Demons or Hunters will leave you alone.” There was some sort of history there, one that Jimmy wanted to ask more about but didn’t feel he should. “So I’ll stay. I need a break anyway, and so does Sam. Hell, Bobby’s probably glad for the quiet too.”

Jimmy wishes he could remember what it was that Castiel found out, so he could tell Dean. Not so much so he could leave, but more so that the Hunter could at least have a better reason then ‘you’re something like a friend or distant family, and I want to help you’. If anything, it would be less awkward.

 

Gordon is supposed to be dead, but Dean’s pretty sure he was resurrected or whatever just to piss him off. The man is demanding Jimmy, or Sam, and so far he and his group has blown the house full of holes, one of which went into Jimmy’s shoulder.

Claire is holding onto her dad for dear life, and Jimmy is giving Dean a pleading look, his eyes scared but resolved.

Just like that, Dean knows the idiot is going to go out and let himself be killed. Of course, considering this is Gordon we’re speaking about, he’ll not just shoot Jimmy full of holes, but tear him apart and try to find out how best to kill an Angel.

Jimmy yells that he’s coming out, and Claire gives him a look like he’s crazy, tears in her eyes. He kisses her forehead, whispering something that Dean can’t hear, and Dean manages to get to her and pulling her out as Jimmy heads through the front door. He stops when he sees that someone’s covering the back with a rather impressive and very illegal gun.

 

Jimmy curses Castiel, and the Angels, and everything else. They had said they’d keep Claire safe, but they didn’t. They’d sworn he would be fine, but he wasn’t. No, instead he was some damned tool, and they’d tossed him into a pile to be crushed.

The man, Gordon, smiled and appeared to Jimmy to be more demonic then some of those he fought, and raised his gun.

“All of you are better off dead,” he said, another man also raising a gun, a large cross and a shirt with Jesus on it coming into view.

“You are all blasphemers in the eyes of the Lord.”

Jimmy doesn’t answer, instead closing his eyes. He trusts Dean to find a way to get Claire out safely. He doesn’t trust himself with anything…after all, he’s the one who was found by the Angels, and who gave himself up to be taken.

He prays as a shot sounds, and only sees darkness.

 

The glow from the front is enough to make Claire and Dean look, and suddenly the Hunters are on the ground, while the man behind starts to load his gun and is taken down. From the back of the house, now nearing collapse, walks Uriel the Bastard, and Dean manages to get Claire out the front, despite not wanting to.

In the front, Castiel is looking over the men he’s either disabled or killed, then back to Dean and Claire, his head tilted in the same way as he had been when Dean first met him, and his eyes without the warmth or humanity that Jimmy’s had.

Claire stops short of whatever she was going to say, looking at Castiel with a sort of disbelief and hatred underneath a very deep sadness.

 

**_If I return, what will you give me?_ **

_Screw you! You left, and now…why should I let you back in? I gave up twenty years, and you just_ leave?

**_If I am to return, I must have an offer. Or else you’ll die by these men’s hands._ **

_Let me guess. The Great Dean Winchester will live, because he’s all that matters?_

**_He is._ **

_Then…if you take me now, and ensure the woman with him lives, and do not mind anything she says, no matter what, I’ll…I’ll give up…_

The house behind them collapses.

Claire walks forward slowly, Castiel watching her movement as if attempting to figure out what she is and why she’s so sad.

She gets remarkably close, and finally swallows down her tears. “W-who are you?”

Castiel seems confused by the question, but answers truthfully. “I am Castiel. I am an Angel of the Lord.”

Claire nods slowly at that. “Oh.” She considers her next question very carefully. “Was…were you…ever someone else?”

 

_Why give that up? Why do this at all?_

**_Because I have nothing left to live for. You’ll let her die, to save Dean Winchester. He’s not my concern, not my friend, nothing to me. My family is dead. I’d rather be with them then inside of you._ **

“If I was,” Castiel said simply, without emotion or caring, “then he died.”

Claire’s eyes widen, and Dean is there to catch her as she almost sits back, her eyes still on the Angel as Uriel heads away. Dean glances at Castiel, but doesn’t ask the questions on his mind.

“no,” Claire says, as if the proof of it isn’t in front of her eyes, “no…please…bring him back. Bring him back, just once, just for a little while.”

“He’s given up his identity,” Castiel said, “and therefore his life. He’s dead. I can’t bring him back.”

“YOU DAMNED LIAR!” Claire finally bursts out, held back only by Dean not wanting her to get into a fight with the Angel, “YOU SAID YOU’RE AN ANGEL OF THE LORD! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM AND CAN’T EVEN SAY YOU’RE SORRY! YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING!”

Castiel is silent as Claire continues to yell, finally falling and crying, still cursing and unable to look at him. Castiel starts to walk up to Dean, but a look keeps him back. Claire cries, holding onto Dean, as he finally gives Bobby a call.

 

Sam returns to the ruined house and sees Castiel sitting on the remains of the porch, as if thinking of something. The young Hacker-turned-Hunter frowns at him, tilting his head and stretching a bit, his bare feet tapping out a sort of tuneless melody that only he knows.

“You’re back,” Sam says, gaining the Angel’s full attention. “Dean said I’m to ask, if I see you, what you wanted to tell us.”

Castiel glares at him.

“Dean’s not talking to you, so you’d better answer,” Sam adds, sitting down in a sort of boneless motion that’s common of many orphans of Earth. “So?”

“I don’t answer to Dean, only to the Lord,” Castiel said, “I know where my loyalties lie.”

Sam hummed, lying back down and looking up at the sky. “There’s going to be a meteor shower soon. This place is going to be destroyed.”

Castiel doesn’t look up, or ask Sam how he knows about the meteor shower.

“You know,” Sam finally says after a long, near-uncomfortable silence where Castiel thinks the young man’s fallen asleep, “about some old Earth story?”

“What?”

“Once upon a time,” Sam said while smiling up at the sky, “there was a young boy who saved a kingdom, well, he and another boy. One traveled a great way and lost many friends, while the other helped to guide him to the final part and to the Princess, who lived in a castle and required a name. After that, the two boys became friends, and one was given the power to wish away all his fears and woes. As he wished himself to be a great warrior, he forgot he had once been a scholar; as he wished himself to be grand and defend his home, he forgot his fear. When he wanted to show the Princess his new image, she would not see him, and he became angry and waged war against her home. The other boy was saddened by this, and soon helped the boy to a great lake, where the boy bathed, and washed away all of his wishes until he was himself again, though he recalled all he’d done in his pride and hated what he had done and become, so he left the world, to avoid the temptation. The End.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s not Christian, so I guessed not. Want to hear another one?”

“No.”

Sam was silent again, looking up at the oncoming twilight before he said, “I heard Gordon was here, and that some man opened a box and let you out. I’d take Pandora’s box…at least then, I know the worst sorrow is still inside, instead of outside…or was it Hope is inside, and all the sorrows outside? I forgot which.”

Castiel didn’t answer that, instead watching as Sam jumped up and glanced over at him, reaching up to scratch at the base of his scalp. “Dean will probably let you back on if you apologize.” At Castiel’s blank look, Sam shrugged. “Your loss, then, but this is why I keep company with the ‘net. There’s always a hexagon of sides, instead of just two. It’s even three-dimensional, and all sorts of colors.” With that, Sam headed off, in the direction of the _Impala_ and Bobby’s maintenance ship. Castiel sat on the porch a bit longer, and finally left to find Uriel.

Behind him, a meteor shower hit the crater that had formed a lake, and washed away the remains of Jimmy Novak’s home.

 

_Program: Castiel_

_Flagged – possible malfunction, requires routine maintenance and little contact with Winchesters_

_Vessel: Novak, Jimmy_

_Status: Deceased_

_Flagged – possible continued malfunction due to interaction with others, need to maintain contact. If none for timeline of 3 months, send in Program: Zachariah to continue evaluation of Winchesters. If Program: Castiel becomes problem, send in Program: Raphael._


End file.
